Helmet



17927 K. FITZPATRICK ET AL HELMET Filed June 18 1926 a M A 26276 7?ggngbfumkdi awl o I 2 g 1927 K. FITZPATRICK ET AL HELMET 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed June 18. 1926 gave/view:

Keene Fkkpm, Zfiqer If Wm/ Patented Aug. 2, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KEENE FITZPAIRICK, F PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY, AND ROBERT '.I.. MULLINS, OFBROOKLYN, NEW YORK; SAID FITZPA'IRICK ASSIGNOR T0 HENRY RIDGEWAY HART,AND SAID MULLINS ASSIGNOR TO A. G. SPALDING & 3368., OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,A CORPORATION 01 NEW JERSEY.

HELMET.

Application filed June 18, 1926. Serial No. 116,810.

This invention relates to head protective devices. More particularly theinvention relates to helmets for use in games, such as football, and hasfor its object a helmet 5 which shall afford a degree of protection tothe wearer greater than usual in a structure having certain advantageousfeatures from the standpoint of ease and comfort without diminishing toany extent the protection af- 1 forded. In accordance with the inventionthere is associated with a helmet a non-pli-' able protective enclosurefor the major portion of the wearers head and face which is ordinarilyexposed with present day athletic helmets. More specifically there isprovid ed a unitary stifi' leather guard of generally cylindrical formaffording protection tothe wearers face above the mouth, ears and theback of the head down. to the nape of the neck which is permanentlysecured to a helmet of conventional lines with provision for a degree ofrelative movement therebetween and displacement of the guard underconditions of rough usage is revented by means such as elastic straps, aout the throat andneck. In order that the invention may be clearlyunderstood and readily carried into efl'ect the same will now bedescribed more fully with reference to the accompanying drawingsillustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation showing the helmet looking from thefront and illustrating the manner of forming the face and ear guardportions. Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken inthe median plane of the helmet and showing details of construction.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken 4 in the plane indicated bythe line 3-3 in Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows andshowin a novel re-enforcing element of pressed bre for the ear piece.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken in the plane indicated bythe line 44 in Figure 2 and showing the fibre ear reenforcing elementwhich is pressed to' a shape complementary to the shape of the ear.

Figure 5 is a view showing the fibre ear re-enforcement in perspective.

Referring to the drawings a heavy stiilleather top a which may take anyconvenient form is illustrated as protecting the head above the ears.This is conveniently formed in quarters a secured together innonyieldirig relation by means of stiff stra a Inwardly the cap piece amay be one ioned with a layer of felt b or the equivalent and, ifdesired, may be re-enforced with a papier-mach or other fibrere-enforcement c. The interior is ventilated by apertures.

a In order to cushion the head still further from blows upon the headguard it is proposed to support the helmet from the top of the head bymeans of a pliable cap d formed inthe present instance of a plurality offabric straps d secured at their lower and the leather guard. So much ofthe helmet is substantially well known and it has also been proposed toassociate with such helmet stiff leather ear guards. The presentinvention goes a step \further, however, and provides a rigid,protecting device which guards .both the face and nose and the back ofthe headas well as the ears in a structure which is so formed astoresist shocks applied thereto. To this end a substantially cylindricalstifl leather guard e is secured to the cap a by means of straps orhinge elements f whereby a slight degree of flexibility is permitted inthe joint between the two. The lowerends or, of the overlapping portions(1 may be availed of as these straps hinges to which the guard a may besecured so as to leave a slight space 9 in the interest of flexibilityof the joint. To facilitate manufacture the side pieces 6 are securedtogether at the central median line at the back of the head andforwardly are joined to a formed leather nose guard e and to the frontalpiece 0 toform the face covering portions. The nose guard section e andthe side pieces e are cut away to provide eye apertures 71. as shown.The side pieces .6 may also be deflected outwardly as at e to spacestill further the stiff leather A provided with an opening (2 throughwhich sounds may reach the ear and ventilating ports e. Inwardly theguard may be lined with a facing of felt z or the like.

Under some conditions the material of which the guard is composed willbe found suflicient to resist and cushion blows upon the outside,particularly in view of the gen-- erally cylindrical form of the guard.In some situations, however, it will be found advisable to re-enforcethe guard at critical points with a strengthening element as i1-lustrated in the preferred embodiment of the invention. Accordingly apressed fibre form j is disposed within'the side portions 6' tore-enforce that part around each ear as indicated in dotted lines andthe front end thereof is brought forward to strengthen.

the face portion and terminates at approximately the line indicated atj. This re-enforcing element possesses certain novel characteristicswhich render it peculiarly applicable in any ear protectivedeyice. It ispressed to conform to the shape of the ear as will be apparent from aninspection of Figures 3 to 5. That is it is most deeply depressed orindented rearwardly as at j", since that portion of the ear is alwaysfarthest spaced from the head. The nose guard is similarly re-enforcedpreferably by means of an aluminium re-enforcement k which extendsrearwardly over the cheeks to approximately the point indicated by thedotted line is. The end of the side shield j and the nose re-enforcementis thus do not overlap. They are sufliciently proximate to lend thedesired degree of rigidity to resist blows but at the same time afford aslight degree of flexibility in the interest of convenience and comfort.The re-enforcements lie within the lining as shown.

It is particularly desirable, of course, to

\ cushion or protect the forehead from blows.

The present helmet lends itself particularly to this feature and to thisend additional padding i may be disposed above the eye apertures h andmaintained in position by a leather covering Z.

In order to prevent displacement of the helmet as a whole, particularlyat times of rough usage an elastic strap m is'provided 7 and/or suitablecushioning at salient points.

By its articulated joint and by the securing 05 means it is securelyheld in position on the head of the wearer without discomfort.

Various modifications may be made in the composition and configurationof the com ponent elements going to make up the pro-7 tective devices asa whole without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention andno limitaton 'is intended by the phraseologyof the preceding.description or accompanying illustrations except as indicated in theappended claims.

lVhat we claim is:

1. In a protective device, the combination with a head guard, of aprotector for the face, ears and back of the head comprisso ing arelatively stiff outer covering of leather, a metallic re-enforeementfor the nose portion, fibrous re-enforcementsfor the cheek bone. and earportions and an inner layer of felt padding.

2. In a protective device, the combination with a head guard, of aprotector for the face, ears and back of the head comprising arelatively still outer covering of leather,

a metallic re-enforcement for the nose pore tion, fibrousre-enforcements for the -clieek bone and ear portions, an inner layer of'felt padding, means to connect the protector to the guard withprovision for limited relative movement, and yielding straps connectedwith the protector to engage the throat and nape of the neck of thewearer.

This specification signed this 5th day of May, A. D. 1926. Q

KEENE Fl'lzPATRICK. ROBERT T. MULLINS.

